Dambusters gets paddlers ready for the Dusi
Paddlers gathered at Dabulamanzi Canoe Club where they took part in the Dambusters Race.
Dabulamanzi Canoe Club (Dabs) recently hosted the Dabulamanzi Dambusters Race which provided the opportunity for paddlers to put in some preparation/training following the festive season, while others prepared for the Eurosteel Dusi River Marathon which is set to take place mid-February from Pietermaritzburg to Durban.
This is described as being the world’s toughest endurance canoe marathon and preparation for it at Dabs brought with it not only training but a chance at enjoyment for all paddlers at all levels of fitness. On the day there was a variety of races made available for different levels.
In the red race course, the race was an 8km paddle, then a 3km run with the boat, followed by a 7km paddle. Jennie Dallas of the Gauteng Canoe Union said this was the tougher Dusi preparation race on the day with the top finishers being Alex Roberts with Michael-John Robb in a time of 01:29:26. Less than 20 seconds later, Wayne Jacobs and Bruno Cochrane crossed the finish line and five seconds after that Luke Salmon with Jack de Swardt finished in third place.
The top finishing ladies were Karen Field, with her daughter Sarah Field, in 02:00:55, followed by Renschi van Zyl and Elandre Zietsman in 02:01:00 and mixed team Kai Davey and Lynn Morris finished in 02:15:00. Chazani Gumede, a paddler from Soweto Canoe and Recreation Club, was the first single boat finisher in 01:45:00.
Some paddlers prefer not to run with their boat, but enjoyed the race anyway including a run – leaving the boat at the water to continue after the run. This race was the pink race category and was won by Matthew Ballenden and Daniel Van Eeden in 01:39:00 in a double boat, with first single boat won by Keith Flemmer in 01:43:00.
Gunther Grune with Pippa Martin were the first finishing mixed double in 01:54:01 while Sonja Bohnsack with Kirsty Pott were the top lady team in this race in a time of 01:54:49. Gabriella van Rooyen and Michelle Haskins completed the pink race in single K1 (one person kayaks) finishing in times of 02:08:00 minutes, and 02:16:00, respectively.
The yellow race was just an 8km paddle with no run and won by Derek Levin and Andrew Venter in 40:31 in a double kayak, while Kyle Armdorf finished in 46:00 in a single kayak. In same race, Kayla Szalay was the lady finisher in 46:59, while Shelley Robertson with Astrid Bredenkamp were top K2 finishers in 55:10.
A shorter race had paddlers under 12 years old was also included in the event, in boats called guppies. This was a 4km race, that saw Rio Hao win the guppy race in 01:30:00 and Aara Judy finishing as first girl in 01:34:00.
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